Equifax CEO Steps Down Amid Hacking Scandal (cnbc.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: Richard Smith, CEO and chairman of Equifax, abruptly retired Tuesday following a data breach at the credit-reporting service that affected the personal information of 143 million people. Smith, who was 57 as of the company's proxy statement in March, became CEO and chairman in 2005 after 22 years at General Electric in senior roles in various divisions. He is to appear at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on Oct. 4 and is the only person scheduled to testify. He is also scheduled to testify next week at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Smith's salary for 2016 was $1.45 million and his bonus was $3.045 million. In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the company said Smith will not get a bonus for this year and any other decisions regarding how his departure has been characterized or how much the company owes him will be deferred until the board completes an independent review of the breach and the response to it. In a separate report, CNBC notes that Smith could walk away with at least $18.4 million in pension benefits. The company is looking for a new CEO, naming its Asia-Pacific head to take on the interim CEO role.

Comments

Evading the Prosecutors

[mentil]

The CEO isn't being accused of insider trading, but I imagine resigning is intended to reduce the likelihood that criminal charges will be brought against him. If your business is being an information broker, and securing people against problems involving that data, then it's not just the CSO's responsibility to secure your data. If this data leak led to a sudden explosion of identity theft, and a corresponding outcry blaming Equifax, then there'd be pressure to do something more than slap some C-levels on the wrist 5 years down the line after appeals. I'm sure Equifax is carefully weighing if it'd cost them more or less credibility to shut down after selling their name and assets to a 'new' company that carries none of the liability for these breaches, seem to recall Hostess did that.